OBSTACLES  TO  THE 

ATTAINMENT  OF  SPEED 
IN  SHORTHAND 


BY 

FREDERICK  R.  BEYGRAU 

AND 

H.  H.  ARNSTON 


GREGG  EDUCATIONAL  MONOGRAPHS 


I 


OBSTACLES  TO  THE 

i ATTAINMENT  OF  SPEED 

IN  SHORTHAND 

I  WITH  SOME  PLANS  FOR  OVERCOMING  THEM 

MENTAL  OBSTACLES 
BY  FREDERICK  R.  BEYGRAU 

EVANDER   CHILDS    HIGH    SCHOOL,    NEW   YORK   CITY 

(A  paper  read  before  the  Business  Section  of  the 
National  Education  Association.) 

MANUAL    OBSTACLES 
BY  H.  H.  ARNSTON 

EAST   SIDE   CONTINUATION    SCHOOL,   NEW  YORK   CITY 

(A  paper  read  before  the  Eastern  Gregg 
Shorthand  Association.) 


SOUTHERN 

IIVER5 


LOS   ANGELfiS/C 

;23 

THE  GREGG  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


<EW  YORK          CHICAGO  BOSTON 

LONDON 


SAN  FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,    IQ2I,   BY 
THE    GREGG    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 

CS8 


14- 


WITH    SOME    PLANS    FOR    OVER- 
COMING   THEM 


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THE  MENTAL  OBSTACLES  TO 
THE    ATTAINMENT    OF 
SPEED   IN    SHORTHAND 

WITH    SOME    PLANS    FOR  OVER- 
COMING   THEM 

IN  order  to  determine  what  are  the 
obstacles  to  the  attainment  of  high 
speed,  it  is  first  of  all  necessary  to 
consider  carefully  the  factors  entering 
into  the  problem  of  writing  shorthand 
rapidly  and  accurately.  There  are 
very  many  elements  involved,  some  of 
which  I  shall  bring  out  in  the  discus- 
sion of  obstacles. 

Some  of  the  obstacles  may  be  sum- 
marized briefly  as: 

1.  Indecision. 

2.  Lack  of  concentration.' 

3.  Nervousness  and  excitability. 

4.  Lack  of  poise.. 

5.  Mind  wandering. 


4  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

6.  Sluggish  mental  habits.' 

7.  Slowness  of  perception. 

8.  Inability  to  grasp  the  meaning  of 
the  English  language. 

9.  Unfamiliar  words. 

10.  Lack  of  confidence  in  ability  to 
read  the  notes. 

11.  Poor  memory. 

12.  Consciousness  of  imperfect  exe- 
cution. 

13.  Unfamiliarity    with    the    funda- 
mental word-building  principles  of  the 
system. 

14.  Imperfect  co-ordination  between 
mental  and  physical  operations. 

15.  And,  certainly,  most  serious  of  all, 
the  lack  of  logical  construction  of  the 
shorthand  system  written. 

There  are  many  obstacles  which  are, 
properly  speaking,  physical  rather  than 
mental,  but  which  seriously  interfere 
with  and  hamper  the  mental  opera- 
tions, such,  for  example,  as  poor  hear- 
ing, poor  sight,  etc. 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand     5 

There  are  two  distinct  phases  in 
the  learning  of  shorthand  —  the  learn- 
ing stage  and  the  expert  stage.  As 
teachers,  we  are  concerned  more  par- 
ticularly with  the  learning  stage,  for 
if  the  learning  stage  of  the  student's 
shorthand  experience  is  properly  taken 
care  of,  the  obstacles  thrown  in  the 
way  of  the  acquisition  of  high  speed 
will  for  the  most  part  disappear. 

In  the  time  allotted  me  I  can  do  no 
more  than  discuss  briefly  the  most  com- 
mon of  these  obstacles  that  interfere 
with  swift  and  accurate  shorthand 
writing,  and  offer  some  suggestions 
which  I  hope  will  assist  in  overcoming 
them. 

MENTAL   OBSTACLES 

Indecision  is  a  most  common  ob- 
stacle and  it  arises  from  two  sources: 
First,  from  the  difficulties  of  phono- 
graphic construction.  Difficulties  which 
are  inherent  in  the  system  of  short- 


6  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

hand  writing  are  serious,  but  much 
can  be  done  to  overcome  them  by  the 
teacher  in  simplifying  his  instruction 
and  by  proper  drill.  Second,  by  certain 
mental  habits  of  the  writer  due  par- 
ticularly to  an  incomplete  mastery  of 
the  word-building  principles  and  in- 
sufficient practice  in  applying  them. 
The  remedy  for  this  is  obvious  —  a 
thorough  and  deliberate  review  of  the 
principles  combined  with  plenty  of 
drill  in  using  the  word-building  prin- 
ciples. 

Many  students  of  shorthand,  and 
particularly  the  younger  ones,  are  in- 
capable of  concentration  for  more  than 
a  brief  period  of  time.  The  faculty  of 
concentration  is  susceptible  of  high 
cultivation.  Exercises  in  concentra- 
tion should  form  a  part  of  the  in- 
struction in  shorthand  writing  from 
the  beginning.  Without  concentration, 
progress  in  learning  is  retarded  and 
the  development  of  high  speed  will  be 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand    7 

impossible.  Concentration  may  be  en- 
forced by  the  nature  of  the  instruction  — 
by  making  it  emphasize  attention  and  by 
forcing  the  attention  of  those  who  are 
inattentive.  An  excellent  plan  to  ac- 
complish this  is  to  give  definite  drills 
which  will  cultivate  the  power  of  hold- 
ing a  large  number  of  words  in  the 
mind  while  the  writing  is  suspended. 
Dictate  a  sentence  or  a  part  of  a  sen- 
tence and  ask  the  students  not  to  begin 
writing  until  the  entire  sentence  or  the 
part  decided  upon  has  been  dictated. 
At  first  only  short  sentences  or  parts 
of  sentences  should  be  given,  but  as 
the  power  to  hold  the  words  in  mind 
increases,  the  length  of  the  exercises 
may  be  increased.  It  is  possible  to  in- 
crease the  ability  in  this  direction  to 
an  amazing  degree.  Another  exercise 
that  is  effective  in  developing  concen- 
tration is  the  reading  of  new  shorthand 
plates  —  the  subject  matter  of  which  is 
unfamiliar  to  the  reader.  He  will  thus 


8  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

be  forced  to  keep  his  mind  concentrated 
on  the  task  and  the  power  to  hold 
himself  to  the  work  will  be  vastly  in- 
creased. Another  difficulty  in  connec- 
tion with  concentration  I  have  observed 
is  in  the  disturbance  even  slow  dicta- 
tion occasions  in  the  minds  of  many 
students.  Dictation  is  something  new 
to  them  and  they  do  not  react  to  it 
readily.  Those  who  have  studied  teleg- 
raphy, I  have  noticed,  take  to  dictation 
much  more  readily  because  they  are 
used  to  taking  matter  from  dictation. 
Nervousness,  which  is  a  serious  ob- 
stacle to  speed  and  accuracy,  is  often 
the  result  of  mental  habits  and  also  of 
going  over  the  shorthand  principles  too 
hurriedly.  The  nervous  person  nearly 
always  lacks  poise.  Improvements  can 
be  effected  in  such  cases  by  a  deliberate 
review  of  the  principles,  giving  the 
dictation  very  slowly  in  order  that  the 
student  will  have  ample  opportunity  to 
do  his  work  correctly.  As  soon  as  his 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand    9 

confidence  is  restored  the  nervousness 
will  disappear. 

Until  the  writer  reaches  the  stage 
when  a  majority  of  words  are  written 
subconsciously,  the  mental  obstacle  of 
mind-wandering  does  not  often  be- 
come manifest.  Its  presence  is  a  serious 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  speed  develop- 
ment. Mind-wandering  is  an  obstacle 
which  can  be  overcome  only  by  the 
application  of  concentration  on  the 
part  of  the  writer  himself.  The  teacher 
can  assist  by  the  selection  of  the  matter 
he  is  using  for  dictation,  making  it 
more  difficult  and  requiring  the  con- 
stant attention  on  the  part  of  the  writer. 

Except  in  rare  instances,  the  students 
we  get  in  the  schools  have  done  little 
that  quickens  perception,  that  prevents 
sluggish  mental  habits.     Shorthand  re-  i 
quires    quick   thinking,    quick    decision  1 
and    action.      In   most   of  our   studies 
there   is   time   for   deliberate   thinking 
and  in  most  of  them  we  have  little  co- 


io  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

ordination  of  mental  alertness  and 
<  manual  readiness.  Shorthand  is  a  su- 
*  perior  study  in  this  respect.  The  study 
of  it  and  the  acquirement  of  practical 
skill  in  it  are  worth  the  effort  required 
for  the  mental  discipline  they  give  in 
this  direction.  Any  exercise  that  re- 
quires quick  co-ordination  of  mental 
and  manual  effort  is  effective.  That  is 
why  athletic  games,  like  tennis,  foot- 
ball, and  basketball,  are  valuable  in 
developing  these  qualities. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  obstacle 
of  unfamiliarity  with  the  English  lan- 
guage. A  great  deal  of  the  student's 
effort  in  shorthand  writing  is  absorbed 
in  trying  to  understand  the  meaning 
of  what  is  being  dictated.  When  he 
encounters  an  unfamiliar  word  he  is 
confronted  with  two  difficulties  —  first 
of  understanding  the  sounds  in  it; 
and  second,  of  selecting  the  correct 
phonographic  form.  Of  course,  the 
obvious  remedy  for  this  condition  is 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  II 

the  constant  study  of  English  until 
the  student's  vocabulary  has  been 
widened.  Every  strange  word  should 
become  the  subject  of  special  study. 
The  variety  of  matter  used  in  dictation 
in  the  advanced  stages  also  becomes  an 
important  aid  in  developing  knowledge 
of  the  language  as  well  as  to  increase 
the  writer's  vocabulary  and  thus  lessen 
the  number  of  words  which  cause 
hesitation  by  their  unfamiliarity. 

The  foregoing  obstacles  deal  with 
things  that  are  commonly  not  within 
the  scope  of  the  shorthand  teacher's 
work,  yet  much  can  be  done  by  short- 
hand teachers  to  improve  the  situa- 
tion. 

TECHNICAL   OBSTACLES 

We  now  come  to  certain  technical 
obstacles  that  demand  the  earnest  ap- 
plication of  the  teacher.  First  of  these 
is  the  consciousness  of  imperfect  exe- 
cution. The  moment  a  writer  writes  a 


12  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

form  that  is  so  imperfectly  executed 
as  to  arrest  his  attention,  his  mental 
equilibrium  is  disturbed  and  his  con- 
centration momentarily  destroyed.  The 
result  is  a  decided  reduction  in  the  speed 
of  writing,  and  we  encounter  what  re- 
porters, as  well  as  telegraphers,  call  a 
"break."  In  this  state  of  mind  the 
writer  may  lose  several  words.  And, 
contrary  to  the  customary  impression, 
these  disturbances  are  not  confined 
strictly  to  those  who  have  advanced  to 
the  expert  stage.  They  occur  with  the 
beginner  even  more  frequently.  To 
remedy  these  difficulties,  we  must  get 
at  the  cause  for  the  imperfect  execu- 
tion. It  may  be  due  either  to  poor 
elementary  training  in  penmanship  or 
it  may  be  due  entirely  to  the  executional 
difficulties  of  the  system  itself.  If  the 
shorthand  characters  can  be  executed 
with  the  freedom  and  ease  of  longhand 
writing,  it  is  obvious  that  the  obstacle 
of  poor  execution  is  reduced  to  the 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  13 

minimum.  It  is  the  same  in  shorthand. 
We  all  know  that  the  Gregg  student 
can  acquire  a  high  speed  in  a  shorter 
time  than  can  the  writer  of  a  non- 
script  system.  The  angular,  geomet- 
ric systems  do  not  lend  themselves 
readily  to  rapid  and  accurate  execution. 
When  written  rapidly  the  forms  be- 
come distorted  because  they  are  not 
constructed  to  take  into  account  natural 
tendencies  of  the  hand. 

Springing  out  of  the  difficulty  that 
arises  from  a  consciousness  of  im- 
perfect execution  of  the  characters, 
there  comes  a  lack  of  confidence  in  the 
ability  to  read  what  has  been  written. 
The  writer  who  lacks  confidence  in  his  \ 
ability  to  read  his  notes  can  never 
make  a  rapid  or  accurate  writer  until 
this  obstacle  is  overcome.  The  obvi- 
ous corrective  for  this  condition  is 
plenty  of  reading  practice,  both  of  en- 
graved shorthand  to  emphasize  the 
correct  form,  and  of  the  writer's  own 


14  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

notes  to  familiarize  him  with  the  devia- 
tions from  correct  form.  A  special 
study  should  be  made  of  words  likely 
to  clash,  the  difficulties  of  execution 
analyzed,  executional  facility  developed 
by  practice.  This  should  be  supple- 
mented by  drills  in  penmanship  to 
improve  the  style  of  writing. 

The  next  obstacle  in  point  of  serious- 
ness, perhaps,  is  that  of  unfamiliarity 
with  the  word-building  principles.  Of 
course,  this  is  present  with  students  of 
all  systems  of  shorthand,  and  the  only 
corrective  is  a  study  of  the  principles 
until  the  fundamental  word-building 
principles  are  like  A,  B,  C.  The  simpler 
the  system,  of  course,  the  more  quickly 
this  may  be  accomplished  with  cer- 
tainty. A  system  which  has  but  few 
rules  and  no  exceptions  naturally  is  at 
a  tremendous  advantage  over  one  which 
is  complex  and  full  of  exceptions.  The 
student  of  Gregg  Shorthand  will  be  at 
once  struck  with  the  fact  that  a  great 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  15 

majority  of  words  are  written  from  the 
alphabet.  This  being  so,  the  student 
begins  to  use  his  shorthand  from  the 
beginning,  and  familiarity  breeds  skill. 
Unfamiliarity  with  the  word-build- 
ing principles  often  arises  from  varia- 
bility of  form.  A  system  of  shorthand 
writing  which  makes  it  possible  for  a 
word  to  be  written  in  several  different 
ways  presents  obstacles  in  learning 
that  are  insuperable  to  many  students. 
Automatism  is  something  earnestly  to 
be  desired  in  shorthand  writing,  and 
the  more  quickly  it  can  be  acquired, 
the  more  rapid  will  be  the  advance 
toward  high  speed.  Automatism  is 
practically  impossible  where  a  writer 
must  constantly  struggle  with  the  selec- 
tion from  a  number  of  possible  forms 
of  the  particular  form  that  best  suits 
the  purpose.  However  desirable  va- 
riety in  words  may  be  in  writing 
English  to  avoid  monotony  of  expres- 
sion, simplicity  and  uniformity  of  word- 


16  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

forms  are  the  things  most  desired  in 
shorthand  writing.  Hence  it  is  im- 
portant that  the  writer  standardize  his 
forms  as  early  as  possible.  Words 
should  always  be  written  in  the  same 
way,  for  wherever  a  change  is  made 
hesitation  occurs. 

The  lack  of  ability  to  co-ordinate 
mental  and  physical  operations  is  a 
common  problem  in  the  teaching  of 
shorthand.  The  ability  to  co-ordinate 
mental  and  physical  effort  is  a  rare 
gift.  Some  students  seem  to  possess 
it  naturally,  and  no  matter  how  com- 
plex the  word  forms,  they  display  an 
astonishing  facility  almost  from  the 
start.  But  with  the  great  majority  of 
students  the  growth  of  skill  in  this 
direction  is  acquired  in  almost  exact 
proportion  to  the  degree  of  complexity 
of  the  shorthand.  A  system  which  is 
simple  in  structure,  in  which  there  are 
few  if  any  exceptions  to  rules,  in  which 
there  is  practically  but  one  way  of 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  17 

writing  a  word,  is  a  vital  aid  in  de- 
veloping co-ordination  of  mental  and 
manual  effort. 

WRITING    OF    SHORTHAND   COMPLEX 
OPERATION 

The  most  common  and  the  most 
serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  gaining 
facility  in  writing  is  the  complexity  of 
the  shorthand  system  itself.  In  order 
that  this  may  be  appreciated,  let  us 
analyze  some  of  the  mental  processes 
of  the  shorthand  writer  in  writing 
shorthand.  Mr.  Rupert  P.  SoRelle,  in 
his  monograph,  'The  Educational  and 
Practical  Value  of  the  Study  of  Short- 
hand," gives  them  very  tersely  as 
follows : 

"First,  there  is  the  hearing  and  the 
comprehension  of  the  words  and  the 
grasping  of  the  thought  of  the  speaker; 
second,  the  translation  of  these  words 
into  the  elementary  sounds  (I  believe 
we  commonly  think  of  words  in  their 


1 8  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

printed  or  written  form);  third,  the 
selection  of  the  shorthand  material 
from  which  they  are  to  be  constructed 
into  tangible  form;  fourth,  the  trans- 
ferring of  these  impressions  to  the 
fingers;  fifth,  the  manual  execution  of 
the  forms.  Here  are  five  distinct 
processes  through  which  each  word 
must  be  put  in  the  smallest  fraction 
of  a  second." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  at  best  the 
writing  of  shorthand  rapidly  is  a  rather 
complex  operation.  And,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, the  processes  referred  to  are 
inseparable  from  all  systems  of  short- 
hand. Some  of  them,  it  is  true,  are 
much  more  highly  complex  with  certain 
methods  of  writing  than  with  others. 
To  illustrate  this  point,  I  should  like 
to  direct  your  attention  for  a  moment 
to  the  phase  of  writing  mentioned, 
"the  selection  of  the  shorthand  ma- 
terial from  which  the  words  are  to  be 
constructed."  It  is  the  effort  to  make 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  19 

this  selection  that  presents  one  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  in  the  teaching 
of  shorthand.  It  may  be  stated  as 
axiomatic  that  the  mental  facility  of 
writing  shorthand  is  in  exact  propor- 
tion to  the  simplicity  of  the  phono- 
graphic material. 

For  example:  In  one  form  of  short- 
hand which  is,  perhaps,  known  to  most 
of  those  present,  the  vowels  are  written, 
if  at  all,  after  the  complete  consonant 
outline  has  been  determined  upon  and 
placed  upon  paper.  This  means  that 
the  learner  must  first  analyze  his  work 
for  consonants,  then  re-analyze  for 
vowels  —  and  particularly  the  impor- 
tant or  accented  vowel,  in  order  that 
the  outline  may  be  placed  in  its 
proper  position  with  regard  to  the 
line  of  writing. 

Let  me  trace  the  mental  processes 
necessary  in  constructing  a  word  by 
this  method.  The  word  is  first  heard; 
the  sounds  are  analyzed  phonographi- 


2O 

cally;  next  the  consonants  are  deter- 
mined; then  a  selection  is  made  from 
perhaps  two  or  three  ways  of  writing 
each  of  the  consonants  in  the  word ;  then 
a  re-analysis  is  made  to  determine  the 
vowel  sounds  and  to  select  the  accented 
vowel;  when  all  this  has  been  done  the 
position  of  the  word  is  then  decided. 
Before  the  position  of  the  word  can  be 
fully  determined,  however,  it  is  neces- 
sary for  the  writer  to  recall  whether 
the  first  consonant  stroke  in  the  word 
is  a  horizontal,  an  oblique,  or  a  vertical 
character.  All  these  processes  must  be 
completed  before  the  actual  writing  of 
the  word  begins.  If  it  is  then  con- 
cluded that  certain  vowels  must  be 
inserted  to  add  to  the  legibility  of  the 
word  form,  the  writer  must  decide 
what  these  vowels  are,  and  by  means  of 
dots  and  dashes  place  them  in  their 
proper  position  on  the  consonants. 
As  each  consonant  stroke  has  three 
positions  upon  it,  and  as  each  word 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  21 

must  be  placed  in  its  proper  position, 
the  mental  processes  necessary  in  the 
construction  of  any  word  are  increased 
to  a  very  high  degree.  The  difficulty 
is  still  further  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  sounds  are  thus  written  out  of 
their  accustomed  order.  Of  course,  as 
familiarity  with  words  increases  and 
the  writer  builds  up  a  shorthand  vo- 
cabulary, recalling  the  forms  of  the 
frequently  recurring  words  becomes  less 
and  less  difficult.  Memory  comes  to 
his  aid  and  he  can  recall  the  form  of 
the  word  without  conscious  analysis. 
But  whenever  it  is  necessary  to  write 
a  word  by  analysis  —  and  this  is  the 
way  in  which  all  words  are  written  by 
the  beginner  —  the  mental  processes 
mentioned  must  be  put  into  operation. 
The  shorthand  writer  never  reaches 
the  point  in  his  speed  where  the  phono- 
graphic outlines  of  all  words  are  fa- 
miliar to  him.  The  new  word  always 
crops  up  at  the  unexpected  moment  to 


22  Mental  Obstacles  to  the 

throw  the  writer  out  of  equilibrium  - 
the   degree   of  loss   of  equilibrium   de- 
pending  entirely    upon    his    facility    in 
handling  the  word-building  principles  of 
the  system  he  writes. 

HOW   TO    ELIMINATE    HESITATION 

Hence  it  is  obvious  that  to  eliminate 
the  most  frequent  source  of  hesitation 
in  writing  —  the  great  obstacle  to  speed 
as  well  as  accuracy  —  the  number  of 
/.mental  processes  must  be  reduced  to 
I  a  minimum,  and  these  processes  must 
be  made  automatic  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  essentials  of  the  system  must  be 
carefully  segregated  from  the  nones- 
sentials,  and  the  fine  points  for  the 
amusement  of  the  theorist,  and  those 
who  are  specially  gifted  mentally  and 
manually.  This  is  a  function  of  the 
teacher. 

In  the  foregoing  I  have  mentioned 
only  some  of  the  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  rapid  writing.  It  is  clear,  however, 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  23 

that  many  of  these  obstacles  will  be 
presented  in  reading  shorthand,  but 
there  is  not  enough  time  at  my  dis- 
posal to  discuss  these  features. 

In  closing  let  me  emphasize  the  point 
that  in  order  to  remove  many  of  the 
obstacles  mentioned,  the  teacher  must 
simplify  his  methods  of  teaching.  He 
must  analyze  the  difficulties  in  in- 
dividual cases,  and  work  out  a  plan  of 
prevention  as  well  as  of  elimination  of 
difficulties  already  discovered.  In  this, 
experience  and  constant  study  of  his 
profession  will  come  to  his  aid. 


THE  MANUAL  OBSTACLES  TO 
THE    ATTAINMENT    OF 
SPEED   IN   SHORTHAND 


THE  MANUAL  OBSTACLES  TO 

THE    ATTAINMENT    OF 

SPEED  IN  SHORTHAND 

SINCE  the  two  great  factors  of  speed 
in  shorthand  are  mental  alertness 
and  manual  dexterity,  each  of  these 
elements  must  be  cultivated  to  a  high 
degree  before  one  can  become  a  rapid 
writer.  But  in  the  effort  to  attain 
speed,  all  aspirants  are  not  beset  by 
the  same  natural  difficulties.  Some 
writers  think  rapidly  enough,  but  lack 
the  necessary  co-ordination  of  mind 
and  muscle,  and  therefore  are  clumsy 
and  slowhanded.  Others,  again,  possess 
manual  agility,  but  are  slow  thinkers, 
and  speed  is  missed  while  "the  eager 
hand  waits  upon  the  lagging  mind." 
With  another  group,  thought  leaps 
from  active  brain  to  nimble  hand  and 


28  Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

is  transferred  to  paper  with  lightning 
swiftness.  These  are  the  kings  of  the 
craft.  There  are  still  others  —  and 
may  their  tribe  decrease!  —  sluggish  in 
both  mind  and  hand.  Slowness,  how- 
ever, either  manual  or  mental,  may 
often  be  due  rather  to  lack  of  proper 
training  than  to  inherent  inability. 

In  dealing  with  this  phase  of  the 
subject,  we  are  confronted,  not  by  a 
few  glaring  faults,  but  by  a  considerable 
number  of  apparently  small  ones.  To 
a  person  who  has  given  no  thought  to 
the  subject,  some  of  these  may  seem  so 
trivial  as  to  be  unworthy  of  notice. 
But  when  we  consider  that  the  reporter 
makes  something  like  two  hundred 
strokes  of  the  pen  in  every  minute  of 
note-taking,  and  that  one  or  several 
of  these  little  faults  may  lurk  in  every 
line  to  hinder  speed,  no  obstacle  is  too 
insignificant  to  demand  attention. 

A  writer  generally  does  not  realize, 
does  not  even  suspect,  that  he  has 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  29 

these  faults,  and  may  wonder  why  he 
cannot  attain  greater  speed.  His  errors 
have  to  be  pointed  out  to  him  by  a 
teacher  or  a  practiced  writer  who  ob- 
serves him  at  work. 

THE    IMPORTANCE    OF   CORRECT 
POSITION 

It  might  seem  almost  too  obvious 
for  discussion  that  an  incorrect  posi- 
tion of  the  body  at  the  desk  or  table 
is  a  hindrance  to  rapid  writing.  Yet 
students  have  often  to  be  reminded 
not  to  loll  back  in  the  seat  while  taking 
dictation;  not  to  sit  hunched  up;  not 
to  throw  the  left  arm  over  the  back 
of  the  chair,  or  not  to  rest  the  head 
in  the  left  hand.  The  shorthand  writer 
should  sit  erect,  though  easily  and 
naturally,  not  stiffly,  with  both  feet 
firmly  on  the  floor.  He  should  sit 
squarely  in  front  of  the  table;  the  arms 
should  rest  on  the  table,  but  not  with 
equal  weight. 


30          Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

One  of  the  most  common  faults  — 
common  because  generally  unsuspected 
—  is  the  habit  of  resting  the  weight 
of  the  body  largely  on  the  right  fore- 
arm. Pinned  down  by  this  weight,  a 
free  movement  of  the  arm,  and  con- 
sequently of  the  hand,  is  impossible, 
and  without  freedom  of  movement 
there  can  be  no  speed.  Struggling 
against  this  impediment,  the  hand  soon 
becomes  tired. 

In  order  to  write  rapidly,  all  weight 
must  be  taken  off  the  right  arm.  The 
body  should  be  supported  entirely  by 
the  left  arm,  the  right  arm  and  hand 
resting  on  the  table  as  lightly  as  pos- 
sible, with  nothing  to  obstruct  the  free- 
dom of  movement. 

A  number  of  evils  result  from  a 
faulty  position  of  the  hand.  Often  the 
wrist  is  allowed  to  rest  on  the  edge  of 
the  table;  sometimes  the  hand  seems 
in  imminent  danger  of  falling  off. 
The  entire  hand  and  arm  are  tense  and 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  31 

rigid.  The  hand,  seemingly  tied  in  a 
knot,  is  turned  so  that  it  rests  heavily 
on  the  side  or  outer  edge  of  the  palm, 
with  the  wrist  almost  vertical,  instead 
of  flat  or  horizontal. 

Resting  the  wrist  on  the  edge  of 
the  table  tends  to  benumb  the  hand  and 
arm.  With  the  hand  in  this  position, 
and  with  the  fingers  cramped,  a  free, 
gliding  movement  is  impossible.  More- 
over, such  a  position  quickly  tires  the 
muscles,  and  thus  prevents  the  best 
work. 

Such  a  cramped,  unnatural  position 
of  the  hand  is  both  cause  and  effect 
of  writing  solely  with  a  finger  move- 
ment. Using  a  finger  movement  alone 
is  almost  certain  to  result  in  an  in- 
correct position  of  the  hand,  and,  con- 
versely, with  such  a  position  of  the 
hand,  no  other  movement  is  possible. 
With  an  exclusive  finger  movement, 
the  writing  is  inevitably  laborious, 
cramped,  jerky,  and  consequently  slow. 


32          Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

When  speed  is  attempted,  the  result 
is  sprawling,  misshapen,  illegible  notes. 
The  hand's  journey  across  the  page  is 
painful  to  see.  The  hand  remains 
stationary  while  a  few  characters  are 
written,  and  when  the  ringers  have 
stretched  as  far  as  they  can,  the  hand 
is  lifted  entirely  off  the  paper  and 
jerked  forward,  or  is  dragged  along  to 
a  new  resting  place,  where  the  same 
operation  is  repeated.  With  such  a 
succession  of  jerks,  jarring  the  hand  and 
interrupting  the  continuity  of  move- 
ment, speedy  writing  is  absolutely  out 
of  the  question. 

EASY   ARM    MOVEMENT 

I  Anything  like  speed  in  shorthand 
can  never  be  attained  without  the  ac- 
quirement of  a  free,  smooth,  continu- 
ous, gliding  motion.  And  a  long  step 
in  this  direction  is  the  cultivation  of 
the  muscular  or  free-arm  movement. 
This  movement  is  universally  recog- 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  33 

nized  as  the  only  proper  one  in  long- 
hand writing,  and  both  reason  and 
experience  prove  it  to  be  equally  effi- 
cacious in  the  writing  of  a  shorthand 
that  is  based  upon  longhand  principles. 
But  in  cultivating  the  muscular  move- 
ment it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
we  are  to  discard  entirely  the  use  of 
the  fingers  as  writing  agents.  The 
danger  lies  in  making  them  the  sole 
agents.  David  Wolfe  Brown  says:  "It 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  those 
nimble  little  instruments,  the  fingers, 
so  highly  valued  in  every  other  manual 
art  because  of  their  adaptation  to 
quick  and  delicate  movements,  can 
serve  as  important  adjuncts  (I  do  not 
claim  that  they  should  be  the  sole 
machinery)  in  symmetrical  and  rapid 
shorthand  writing."  Undoubtedly  bet- 
ter results  may  be  obtained  by  a 
judicious  combination  of  the  muscular 
and  finger  movements  —  with  the  mus- 
cular movement  the  predominating  one, 


34  Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

however  —  than  is  possible  with  either 
method  alone.  In  conjunction  with 
these  a  lateral  movement  of  the  wrist 
may  be  used  to  advantage.  Co-ordi- 
nating these  three  movements  gives 
the  hand  marvelous  flexibility. 

A  faulty  habit  of  many  writers  is 
the  practice  of  gripping  the  pen  too 
tightly.  This  produces  a  tenseness  and 
stiffness  of  the  entire  hand  and  arm. 
The  movement  of  the  hand  is  jerky, 
spasmodic.  The  fingers  are  rigid,  and 
their  help  in  the  formation  of  char- 
acters is  lost.  The  excessive  strain 
wearies  the  muscles.  The  pen  should 
be  held  lightly  —  with  just  enough 
pressure  to  control  it  —  and  the  muscles 
should  be  relaxed.  Only  in  this  way  is 
it  possible  to  gain  the  free,  flowing 
movement  so  necessary  to  speed  in 
Gregg  Shorthand. 

A  common  impediment  to  speed  is 
the  resting  of  the  hand  too  heavily  on 
the  paper.  This  is  an  inevitable  ac- 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  35 

companiment  of  the  sole  use  of  the 
finger  movement,  in  which  the  hand 
rests  on  the  ball  or  the  outer  edge  of 
the  palm.  It  is  often,  also,  the  result 
of  a  too  tight  gripping  of  the  pen. 
Sometimes  this  fault  is  due  to,  or  is 
accentuated  by,  the  use  of  a  stiff  pen 
or  a  hard  pencil,  which  requires  undue 
pressure  in  order  to  register.  Some 
writers  habitually  bear  down  on  the 
writing  instrument  and  make  heavier 
outlines  than  necessary,  with  a  re- 
sultant loss  of  speed.  Either  a  soft, 
flexible  pen,  with  a  fine  point,  or  a 
moderately  soft  pencil,  should  be  used, 
and  the  pressure  of  the  hand  on  the 
paper  should  be  as  light  as  possible. 

Many  stenographers  make  the  mis- 
take of  writing  their  notes  too  large. 
This  not  only  consumes  unnecessary 
time  in  the  writing  of  the  individual 
outlines,  but  entails  a  further  loss  of 
time  in  compelling  a  more  frequent 
passing  from  line  to  line  and  from  page 


36  Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

to  page.  A  similar  loss  of  time  is  oc- 
casioned by  writing  the  outlines  too 
far  apart.  A  distinct  gain  in  speed  is 
often  found  to  follow  the  cultivation  of 
a  reasonably  small  and  compact  style 
of  writing. 

PENMANSHIP   THE    FOUNDATION    OF 
EXECUTIONAL    SKILL 

A  habit  common  to  a  large  number 
of  experienced  writers  is  that  of  paus- 
ing unnecessarily  at  the  points  of  angles, 
or  when  the  direction  of  the  stroke  is 
changed.  This  is  generally  due  to 
making  the  angle  too  sharp  and  pre- 
cise. On  this  subject  I  quote  Mr. 
John  R.  Gregg,  in  the  Gregg  Writer: 

"Some  time  ago  in  this  magazine, 
when  speaking  of  the  notes  of  a  sten- 
ographer who  complained  that  he  found 
it  impossible  to  get  up  speed,  we  said: 
'The  notes  showed  wonderful  exact- 
ness of  form,  but  the  angles  were  so 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  37 

positive  that  it  was  evident  that  an 
absolute  pause  had  taken  place  after 
each  of  them.  Precision  is  a  good 
thing,  especially  when  learning  the 
principles,  but  it  can  be  carried  too 
far  in  the  case  of  rapid  note-taking 
and  thus  prove  a  detriment  to  the  ac- 
quirement of  high  speed.  When  the 
writer  of  shorthand  has  attained  suf- 
ficient command  over  his  hand  to  make 
the  outlines  rapidly  and  yet  retain 
proportion  of  form,  he  should  aim  to 
acquire  skill  in  turning  the  corners, 
so  to  speak  —  in  other  words,  round 
off  the  angles.  This  is  a  point  worthy 
of  thought,  experiment,  and  practice 
on  the  part  of  the  writer  who  aims  at 
becoming  an  expert  reporter.'* 

It  seems  incredible  that  more  than 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  time  spent  by  the 
average  writer  in  note-taking  is  lost 
between  outlines  —  during  penlifts.  Yet 
that  is  what  some  shorthand  experts 
claim.  David  Wolfe  Brown  says:  "It 

44923 


38  Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

is  doubtless  true  that  the  ordinary 
writer  loses,  while  his  pen  does  not 
touch  the  paper  —  while  he  is  passing 
from  word  to  word,  from  phrase  to 
phrase,  from  line  to  line,  from  page 
to  page  —  while,  strictly  speaking,  no 
writing  is  being  done  —  more  time 
than  he  occupies  in  the  shaping  of 
the  shorthand  characters/' 

While  much  of  the  loss  of  time  be- 
tween outlines  is  due,  especially  in  the 
case  of  young  writers,  to  mental  hesi- 
tation, there  are  several  time-consum- 
ing manual  faults  to  which  even  prac- 
ticed writers  are  prone,  and  constant 
effort  must  be  exercised  to  overcome 
them. 

One  of  these  is  a  habit  of  lifting  the 
entire  hand  from  the  paper  between 
outlines.  With  every  lift  of  the  hand, 
time  equal  to  the  writing  of  one  or 
more  strokes  is  lost.  If  the  writer 
uses  a  finger  movement  solely,  the 
hand,  after  a  few  characters  have 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  39 

been  written,  must  be  either  lifted 
from  the  paper,  jerked  forward  and  re- 
stationed,  or  dragged  along  the  paper 
to  a  new  resting  place.  And  during 
these  ever-recurring  lifts  or  shifts,  of 
course  the  pen  is  idle.  The  hand  should 
never  be  lifted  from  the  paper  during 
the  course  of  a  line,  and  need  not  be 
lifted  during  the  writing  of  a  page. 
The  hand  should  rest  on  the  nails  of 
the  third  and  fourth  fingers,  gliding 
along  on  them  smoothly  and  con- 
tinuously, with  as  little  pressure  as 
possible.  The  wrist  or  ball  of  the 
hand  should  not  touch  the  paper. 
Only  the  thumb  and  first  two  fingers, 
which  hold  the  pen,  should  be  lifted. 

Even  when  only  the  writing  fingers 
are  lifted,  and  not  the  entire  hand, 
some  writers  lift  the  pen  too  high. 
Hand  in  hand  with  this  habit  goes  the 
error  of  writing  the  outlines  too  far 
apart,  entailing  unnecessary  traveling 
of  the  hand  along  the  line  and  from  one 


4o          Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

line  to  another.  The  closer  the  pen  is 
kept  to  the  paper,  and  the  shorter  the 
distance  it  has  to  travel,  the  more  speed 
is  possible. 

PHRASING   NECESSARY   TO    SPEED 

Many  writers  rob  themselves  of  pos- 
sible speed  by  failure  to  phrase  word- 
forms  that  are  easily  phrasable.  The 
benefits  of  phrasing  are  threefold:  it 
eliminates  the  loss  of  time  incident  to 
lifting  the  pen  between  outlines;  it 
permits  the  abbreviation  of  words  com- 
monly joined,  as  "at  the  present  time," 
"we  are  in  receipt";  it  allows  the 
omission  of  minor  words  occurring  in 
the  group  phrased,  as  "in  regard  (to 
the)  matter,"  "out  (of  the)  question." 
Phrase-writing,  however,  must  be  done 
judiciously.  While  all  easily-joined,  fre- 
quently-occurring word  groups  should 
be  phrased,  there  must  be  no  straining 
after  unusual,  unfamiliar  combinations, 
or  awkward,  unnatural  joinings. 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  41 

An  operation  that  occasions  an  an- 
noying loss  of  time  to  the  great  ma- 
jority of  writers  is  the  turning  the  leaves 
of  the  notebook.  Generally  the  hand 
is  allowed  to  work  its  way  down,  line 
after  line,  until,  by  the  time  the  pen 
reaches  the  bottom  of  the  page,  the 
hand  has  slid  entirely  off  the  tablet. 
When  the  last  line  is  reached,  there  is 
a  wild  scramble,  in  which  both  hands 
are  engaged,  to  separate  the  leaf  from 
the  others  and  turn  it  over.  During 
this  process  the  speaking  goes  right  on, 
and  when  the  hand  finally  reaches  the 
top  of  the  new  page,  the  writer  finds 
himself  many  words  behind. 

Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  method 
of  turning  the  leaves  is  the  following: 
When  the  hand  has  traveled  about  a 
third  of  the  way  down  the  page,  push 
the  leaf  up  a  little,  either  with  the  ball 
of  the  little  finger  of  the  right  hand  or 
with  the  left  hand,  and  insert  the  second 
finger  of  the  left  hand  under  the  leaf, 


42          Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

keeping  the  leaf  pressed  flat  with  the 
first  finger  and  thumb.  Then,  instead 
of  letting  the  right  hand  work  down 
the  page,  keep  it  on  the  tablet  at  about 
the  same  level  and  shift  the  leaf  up 
with  the  first  finger  and  thumb  of  the 
left  hand.  The  shifting  of  the  leaf  can 
easily  be  accomplished  while  the  pen 
is  passing  from  one  line  to  another. 
When  the  bottom  of  the  page  is  reached, 
lift  the  thumb  and  first  finger,  and  the 
second  finger  will  turn  the  leaf  over 
without  perceptible  effort.  With  this 
method,  the  hand  always  has  a  smooth 
surface,  as  the  supporting  fingers  are 
always  on  the  tablet,  and  no  time  what- 
ever is  lost  in  passing  from  page  to 
page. 

If  the  obstacles  mentioned  can  be 
eliminated,  the  result  should  be  a 
light,  free,  smooth,  continuous,  gliding 
movement.  High  speed  is  impossible 
without  this  movement,  but  if  once 
this  movement  is  acquired,  there  is 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  43 

practically    no    limit,    on    the    manual 
side,  to  the  speed  that  may  be  attained. 

MOTIVE    POWER 

But  let  it  be  remembered  that  the 
elimination  of  all  the  obstacles  in  the 
world  will  not  produce  speed.  Remov- 
ing obstacles  is  only  a  negative  process. 
Letting  off  the  brakes  does  not  push 
the  engine;  there  must  be  motive 
power  back  of  it.  And  the  motive 
power  back  of  rapid  shorthand  writing 
is  practice,  practice,  practice.  It  is 
surely  betraying  no  secret  to  say  that 
the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  attain- 
ment of  speed  in  shorthand  is  simply 
lack  of  practice  —  intelligent,  system- 
atic practice.  But  the  mistake  is 
commonly  made  of  limiting  practice  to 
just  one  thing  —  dictation.  Mr.  John 
R.  Gregg  says  on  this  point: 

"The  highest  degree  of  skill  in  the 
study  of  everything  may  be  attained 
most  easily  and  quickly  by  following  a 


44          Manual  Obstacles  to  the 

well-planned  course  of  training.  In 
the  study  of  shorthand  such  a  course 
of  training  should  provide  for  variety 
in  the  methods  of  practice.  It  is  a 
singular  thing  how  many  students  of 
shorthand  believe  that  all  they  need 
in  order  to  attain  speed  is  plenty  of 
'dictation  practice.'  In  athletics  or 
sports  of  any  kind,  it  is  generally 
known  that  an  athlete  or  a  player  will 
go  *  stale'  if  he  is  kept  practicing  one 
thing  or  in  one  way  all  the  time.  A 
change  in  the  form  of  training  or 
practice  enables  him  to  maintain  his 
vigor,  elasticity  and  reserve  power. 
Everybody  recognizes  the  truth  of  this 
idea  as  applied  to  anything  —  save 
shorthand  or  typewriting." 

The  plan  of  training  should  embrace 
such  features  as  the  copying  of  short- 
hand plates,  to  preserve  a  correct 
style  of  writing;  drill  on  the  frequent 
combinations,  the  wordsigns,  and  the 
common  phrases,  until  the  execution  be- 


Attainment  of  Speed  in  Shorthand  45 

comes  automatic;  writing  thoroughly 
practiced  matter  from  dictation,  to 
train  the  hand  to  swift  transitions; 
writing  new  matter  from  dictation,  to 
cultivate  the  word-building  faculty;  re- 
porting lectures,  sermons,  etc.,  when- 
ever opportunity  offers;  reading  back 
all  of  one's  own  notes;  reading  the 
correctly-written  shorthand  in  the  wide 
range  of  literature  now  available  in 
the  system;  drills  in  penmanship  — 
both  shorthand  penmanship  and  long- 
hand penmanship,  cultivating  the  free- 
arm  movement.  If  a  program  of  this 
kind  is  followed,  there  will  be  no  such 
things  as  obstacles  to  speed. 


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